Hi,

A friend of mine is thinking of buying a bonnie from one of his relatives, only one thing that bothers him and me a bit about the car.

When driving in town, the SES light lights up, and stays for about 10 seconds. Also happens when in Park and ideling. We found a wierd thing, when you press the break pedal twice, the light dissapears.

Just before the light dissapears, you can hear a quick buzz from where the brakefluid and all the other stuff is. (don´t know what its called in english)

When driving on highway or freeway the light never comes on, only in city driving. Brakes working fine and all that, just a really bothering light.

So, do you have any idea of what kind of problem this could be?

/ Henrik

You sure it'* the SES light and not the ABS or BRAKE lights? Is it possible that the LE cluster combined SES and ABS and BRAKE or something like that? The thing you hear under the hood, is the accumulator motor. The 88-91 Bonnevilles have the TEVES Braking System, which is electronically pressurized, versus vacuum pressurized like 99% of the other cars on the road.

Personally, I think it is a braking issue. But, I too have the same problem, where my SES light will come on intermittently for about 3 or 4 minutes, then just go out. And if I try to pull the codes [what you need to do], it just kills the engine, and the radiator fans don't turn on. I think my ECU is shot, but as long as the car runs like she does, I am not too concerned.


-justin

Tried pulling the codes, no error code occured, just the "normal blinking code", code 12.
Really wired, the car breaks good and abs and everthing working. And yes, possitive that it is the SES light, says "service eng. soon"

Could it be an acumulator problem? Thinking of trying with changin all the wires and place the ground somwhere else. Problem is that its not my car, a relatives, but shuldn´t be an issue.

Can you describe your problem?

/ Henrik

Well, if the SES light is not on, only a code 12 will be displayed, unless it was a history code.. but honestly, I don't think our cars can do those. If you can catch it with the SES light on, then maybe you can see the code. Honestly, it sounds like a bad ground or connection, and the braking knocks something lose.

I also honestly doubt the braking system is at fault if what you say is true. If you de-pressurize the brakes [pressing the brake pedal 20 times or so with the ignition off], then turn the ignition on, how long does it take for the BRAKE light to go out? If less than a minute, your brake pressurizing system is fine.

My problem.. which one? I have many. Brake issues? SES light intermantantcy? The fact half my engine is in my basement? You've got to be more specific here .


-justin

I just did the code retrieval the other day, and it displayed an error code. The car hadn't even been run at all that day, so it does store codes in the memory I would think. Is that what you mean by history code?

But anyway, about the 10 second SES light, this is what is says in the ECM code retreival guide:

So, the SES light is coming on for something that is intermittent is what I gather....how to figure out what that may be is beyond me.

Wow, you worried me for a sec. At first I thought that quote read "if your SES light stays on for only 10 seconds you have a serious problem." Thank God that isn't the case.. anyways.

History codes are codes that don't get cleared, or I think they could also be classified as ones that don't set off the SES light [also referred to as "ghost" codes]. I don't think our ECU'* are smart enough to store these.

hall0n: Your best bet, is to be able to catch the SES light on, and try to grab the codes. Unfortunately this will be very difficult. Honestly, if you don't notice a power difference from SES light off, to SES light on, it cannot be more serious than a bad ground and/or connection. I think you just have to live with it until the SES light stays solid, and you have more of an opportunity to grab the code. Have your friend buy the Bonneville. We all know our gen is the best .


-justin

Sure they are. I have an '87 LE and the SES light comes on and off while the car is going down the road and only when it'* warmed up. But besides that the last time i checked it after i got home from driving it, the light had gone OFF, which leads me to believe me that the code had been resolved. So i shut it off and got my code reader, plugged it in, and it pulled a code 35. Remember the light was OFF when the car came back, so the computer had to store it in memory even though the fault was no longer present.

I guess I have been proven wrong. Our cars can have history codes. Too bad this didn't work for hall0n'* case. It must depend on the code, I guess.


-justin

Well, tried pulling the codes again, nothing. And the brakes and engine works just as fine with the SES light on as it does of. Yes, my friend bought the car today, so maybe we´ll try to replace all the wiering and move the ground place somewhere else. Fells really wired that it doesn´t store any codes and that nothing is working inproperly.

And yes, our gen is the best!

Just replaced my factory Delco cdplayer with a Sony Mp3/cd player instead, put a 12" bass and amp in the rear to, sounds great with the original performance sound and the bass

Has anyone here put a dvd and LCD screen in their car, thinking of it, would be really cool.

/ Henrik

Well, I was thinking of the SES light problem, and the brakerelated too.
BTW what are you doing on your engine? Tuning or basic rebuilding?

/ Henrik